Non-OPEC members yet to pledge to definite output steps

Nonmembers of the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) have failed to make a specific commitment to curb oil output at a meeting last Saturday, October 29.

Although OPEC members have tentatively agreed to curb their respective oil outputs, a failure by non-OPEC members is problematic, and could suggest that nonmembers want the organisation to work out its differences before they are willing to get on board.

Experts and officials from some of the biggest oil-producing regions, including Brazil, Mexico and Russia, attended the consultations in Vienna on Saturday. The only agreement they reached, however, was to once again meet in November, ahead of an upcoming OPEC meeting on November 30, according to a statement.

Just a day before the meeting, OPEC members were unable to reach an agreement on how the global output limit should be implemented, despite spending many hours in talks. This was due in part to objections from Iran, which has been averse to even freezing its levels of output at all, according to sources.

Kazakhstan’s vice-minister of energy, Magsum Mirzagaliev, following seven hours of talks on October 30, told reporters that there was still a need to agree on “real numbers”, hence the arrangement of another meeting.

Failure to reach an agreement could have a negative impact not only on oil producers, but also big oil companies like Fuchs, which produces Fuchs WSP 783-L, as a continued oversupply of oil will prevent prices from increasing significantly.